Chapter 3

CHIARA: I started awake and shot straight up. There are tears in my eyes and on my face. I hate this time of year. I rub my thumb over the braided bracelet on my wrist. “I miss you so much.” I whisper. Falling back to sleep. When I woke in the morning. I noticed that there was a different bag hanging from my IV. Damn, I am going to have to figure out a way to get them not to give me that sedative. Breakfast was served, and afterwards I was left on my own. I felt the change; I wasn’t as sore, and I could breathe easier. I knew it was because of the Alpha’s blood. It’s not that I didn’t want to get better, I just didn’t want their blood to do it with. If I truly need blood to get better, then why don’t they ever take any from us? No, I really don’t need it to get better with. It’s just to make us heal faster, and I don’t want it. But I can’t refuse, either. That’s why I do what I do. I took out my homework from yesterday and got to work on it, so it will be ready for Iesha when she comes to visit later. She can then take it back and turn it in for me.

JAYDEN: My twin and I have been away from our Pack for a year doing our Alpha training. I am excited to get home. We are returning a week before the prom/party. I am looking forward to relaxing a bit and letting loose. We have traveled to several other packs, learning what makes a good Alpha and what doesn’t. I know Caiden is just as glad to be going home as I am. Plus, with every Pack we visited, we know our Mate isn’t in any of them. We started our training at the age of 18, so we would have known if our mate was in any of those Packs.

CAIDEN: I know there is going to be a party this weekend when we get home. Our Beta Vince called to let us know that they were planning it. I can’t wait. I miss being home and being around everyone. I am looking forward to our last hurrah with the Prom/party before we have to settle down and run the Pack. It’s going to be fun.

IESHA: I was sitting at a back table for lunch, and I overheard some of the other students talking about the party they are going to this weekend. I hear two names that make my blood run cold. The twins are coming home. Shit, I hope that doesn’t send Chiara over the edge. She has been a little less on edge without them around. But now that they are coming home, I doubt I will ever get her out of her room. It’s Wednesday, which means it’s laundry day, and Chiara won’t be doing anybody's laundry. I don’t want to be anywhere around when Valen finds out who is going to be doing her laundry. I finish eating lunch early and go get Chiara’s assignments for her, and I get back to my class. We didn’t have the same 5th hour, but we were in the same hallway. It’s going to be hard breaking the news to her that her tormentors are coming home.

VINCE: I can’t wait to have the twins back. I have so many ideas for the pack, and I want to share them. And having the twins home means we will be able to take over soon. Our parents can retire and enjoy their lives, without worrying whether the Pack is going to be ok or not. I have done a little traveling myself over this past year, and I have a few ideas for keeping the teens from causing havoc in the pack. One being that they start to train at the age of 12, not every day, mind, but at least 2-3 days a week. Another idea is we build an arcade, so that they can go somewhere and let off steam in a productive way. And that will also create jobs in the Pack. I also can’t wait for next weekend; we will be going to the girls’ prom/party. That should be fun, considering that it will probably be the last one we will get to go to. With us taking over the pack.

IESHA: The last bell rang, and I bolted. I had to get to the clinic to give Chiara her homework assignments and get the ones from yesterday so I could turn them in for her. I wasn’t looking forward to telling her about the twins coming home. But it was better coming from me than through the gossip mill. When I got to her room, she was looking a little better, not much, but some. I could tell she was breathing easier, and she wasn’t in as much pain. “Hey.” I said as I entered her space. “Hey, yourself.” She answered. “I have some news that you aren’t going to like so well.” I say to her. “What’s that?” she asked. “The Party that Valen is going to this weekend is for the twins. They are coming home.” I tell her. She visibly blanches; she is even paler than when I walked in. “Well then, it’s a good thing that I am not doing her laundry. Don’t want my scent on anything that even remotely gets close to them.” She says almost in a panic. I nod. I understood all too well what she meant. There were times they would seek her out because they smelled her on someone, or something, and it never ended well for her. “I have your assignments.” I say softly to her. She takes them and hands me the ones from yesterday. “Thanks.” She whispers. I nod. “I’m sorry, Chiara, I just thought that it would be better coming from me than hearing it through the rumor mill.” I say to her. “It is. It’s not your fault.” She says. The happiness that I saw in her yesterday is now gone. I just want to cry for her. “I would like to stay, but I have to get home.” I tell her. “I know. It’s ok.” She says, sounding totally deflated. I hated to leave, but I had to.

CHIARA: Once Iesha left, I started to pack up my schoolwork. I wasn’t going to stay here any longer. I needed to get back to my room. The nurse came in to check my vitals and hook up another blood IV. I waited till she was gone, got up, and gave it to the other guy who was on the other side of the first one. “Here, you can have mine.” I told him. I hooked it up for him, then grabbed my backpack and left. I wasn’t going to stay in the clinic, not with those two monsters coming home. I needed to be in my room, where I knew I would be safe.  And I also knew without a doubt that I was not going to the party/prom. My head was spinning by the time I got back to the orphanage, but I needed to get to my room, so I pushed through it, got to my room, and collapsed on my bed.